Social connectedness and loneliness in school for autistic and allistic children.

ABSTRACT:

Lay abstract

Many previous studies reported that autistic children have fewer social connections. Yet, recent studies also show that autistic children more often feel lonely in school than allistic (i.e. non-autistic) children. This outcome seems to go against the traditional view that autistic children do not desire to have social connections. Therefore, this study aimed to find out how autistic and allistic children feel about their social connections. We included 47 autistic and 52 neurodiverse-allistic children from two special education primary schools (aged 8-13 years). We tested their social connections and loneliness in school, through a new approach. This new approach includes questionnaires, and sensors for tracking social contacts on playgrounds during school breaks. We

SUBMITTER: Tsou YT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11656637 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature